Before trimming I was in the British and then the New Zealand Army for more years than I care to mention.
This picture is was taken in 2003, and I’m mounted on a little local pony in the Bamian province of Afghanistan (the place where the Taliban destroyed the ancient Buddha statues). The New Zealanders were about to take over a reconstruction team there, and I was part of the team that looked all the details before the main group arrived.
On our first visit to the local market I was videoing the general goings on when I saw a man riding into the market on this wee pony. I started videoing him and he noticed that I was paying attention and hopped off to offer me a ride. So I had a little trot up the street with the locals hitting his rump/ trying get him to gallop off. But he was a very good boy and took me for a nice little trot before stopping in front of my colleague who took this picture.
This is my favourite picture of my military career – a rare moment which involved horses!
